Ninjutsu - Historic - MTG Arena 

I (and LVD) thought that this card qualified for an "intervening if clause" because it's very similar to that group of triggers. For reference it's 603.4: 603.4 A triggered ability may read “When/Whenever/At [trigger event], if [condition], [effect].” When the trigger event occurs, the ability checks whether the stated condition is true. The ability triggers only if it is; otherwise it does nothing. If the ability triggers, it checks the stated condition again as it resolves. If the condition isn’t true at that time, the ability is removed from the stack and does nothing. Note that this mirrors the check for legal targets. This rule is referred to as the “intervening ‘if’ clause” rule. (The word “if” has only its normal English meaning anywhere else in the text of a card; this rule only applies to an “if” that immediately follows a trigger condition.) blogs.magicjudges.org/rules/cr603/ But this card is templated as "When [trigger event], [effect] if [condition]" not "When [trigger event], if [condition], [effect]". So maybe it doesn't qualify. Strange.

Gotcha, verified it once again in the judge chat. Was told the incorrect ruling a while back.

It's not an intervening if-clause, so it should only check on casting. Compare the wording with Dwynen's Elite, where it is an intervening if-clause, so it checks twice. I haven't actually seen the interaction in-game to know if it's bugged though.

@@Yesnomu Intervening-if clauses check at both times, but this only checks on resolution. However, for the trigger to only check on trigger (and not again at resolution), it would use a wording like Dragon's Fire or Foul-Tongue Invocation where it specifies that the additional effect happens based on the trigger condition being met 'as you cast' the card in question. In both cases, you needn't still control the Dragon as the spell resolves to get the boosted effect.

@@RiaCorvidiva You're right! I got confused, thanks. :)

Why wouldnt you run it in any deck that includes black, its way too much value for 2 mana xD just like fable of the mirrorbreaker :D

I really wanted to take out the Arms Scavenger though.

Aight :)

it only copies if it enters from your hand, so a token copy of it won't trigger

You can loop two copies of them as long as you have the mana to keep using Ninjutsu, it's quite fun!

I believe he’s playing for the counter swing. By losing his creature to save himself 3 life he might not win through the advantage pressure he ended up winning with. Ultimately I don’t think the balmor was of highest consequence personally, as the games are so short, but yeah I can see why it’d seem unoptimal to leave it alive.

Sure, I get you lose out on 3 points and it takes your clock down a turn. But also, that deck can hit you out of nowhere and part of that is the pump off of Balmor. It didn't end up mattering since had removal in hand, but how different does it look with your opponent at 8 life and no creatures? Probably more of a judgment call/play style since there was no chance of dying the next turn (and I'm more control). Went back and watched, I think it's suboptimal if there isn't any thought put into which one ("I can kill one of my opponent's creatures" - wasn't any dialogue about why decision). But he did also say "take advantage of tempo swing", so may have been internal thought that wasn't said in commentary. Given how much I enjoy his videos and how he explains decisions that can have impact, not hearing an internal debate had me perceive that there wasn't one.

opponent can just block the two 4/4s and not die?

@@lagna1506 Of course, but they were trying to keep one creature alive to reconfigure the Kirin onto. It is unlikely that they would have double chumped, and if they did it would solve the kirin problem without having to worry about keeping up Otawara

It's an alchemy rebalance

Never mind, opponent could block with the token and blow up the unblocked construct.

Yeah, would require some adjusting.

That’s because we answered all their key cards. Hangarback alongside Zabaz can get very scary. They also drew a few removal spells which happened to work out better for us than if they had drawn more creatures.

@@LegenVD Was not meant to diminish your performance :) Maybe it just seems like so because of your great plays, keep on going!! :)

I did a while back!

@LegenVD ah word, I've been trying to make dredge work in alchemy, Olgor has been cool but I want to see what you could do with that card before it rotates. Cheers!

Please elaborate

@@LegenVD that first match had the turn 3 kill with 4/4 attacking ninjas, and it was teased during , clearly the whole thing is staged, trololol

@@SpitefulAZ Or I record the intro after the games 😅

@@LegenVD that's one way to stage. 😉